The women at Eskaton cherish the caregiving role

As she walks through the Eskaton Village Placerville assisted living facility and out into the sunshine, Pamela Dallas greets every resident by first name. She compliments their clothes and comment on the beautiful January day.

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As she walks through the Eskaton Village Placerville assisted living facility and out into the sunshine, Pamela Dallas greets every resident by first name. She compliments their clothes and comment on the beautiful January day.

This personal greeting is just a part of Dallas’ busy day, but one she definitely enjoys. For the last five-and-a-half years the sales counselor has helped families work through difficult decisions.

“It’s a hard thing to leave your home and downsize,” Dallas said.

But Eskaton’s caring staff, mostly female driven, has made residents’ transitions easier than expected. Eskaton Village offers independent living homes and cottages and assisted living, as well as memory care and respite care. The assisted living facility currently has 70 residents and 15 live in its newly opened cottages (24 still available). Residents love the convenience, social programs, outings and entertainment, Dallas said. The staff loves providing those resources and getting to know the residents.

“I love all the people,” said receptionist Dana Roe. “We have the best staff and the sweetest residents.”

“It’s just a great job,” added driver Dorie Pennington, “great coworkers, great management.”

All the employees work well together, Dallas noted, and truly care about the people they serve. Joining Dallas on the leadership team are Evelyn McGrath, Eskaton Village Placerville’s executive director; Melisa Tiburcio, resident care coordinator; Debra Williams, activities director; and Ashlie Crandall, food service director. The lone male manager is Mark Williams, environmental services.

“In this type of industry it is female driven because women are traditionally in that caregiving role,” she said, explaining that it’s often a female relative who makes the first move to transition an elderly person from independent living to a more controlled setting. Dallas walks them through that process, getting to know everyone involved in the decision and setting a course that’s right for Eskaton’s future resident — whether they need full-time care or just a smaller home to manage and someone to pop in from time to time and say hello.

“It’s definitely a people business,” Dallas said. “When I got into the industry I wasn’t sure if it was the right fit for me but I love it more than I expected.”

Judging by the friendly responses Dallas receives from those residents she greeted, they love her right back.